Pages

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) principal Troy LaRaviere faced the media Thursday morning to speak out against the "politically motivated charges" leveled against him by the district.

Last month, CPS removed LaRaviere -- an outspoken critic of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPS -- from Blaine Elementary School in Lakeview and reassigned him to his home with pay until the disciplinary process is complete.

LaRaviere's removal comes as he runs for president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, the election for which is currently underway and ballots will be counted next week.

"When I was a lone voice, the administration tolerated me," LaRaviere said this morning at the Wishbone Restaurant on Lincoln Avenue. "But when faced with the prospect of an organized group of education leaders speaking as one on behalf of students, they've moved with haste and reckless abandon to prevent that from happening."

South Side Chicago Ald. David Moore (17th) said he does not regret and will not apologize for using a racial slur last week in a Facebook post, in which he condemned the reassignment of an outspoken school principal.

Sources

The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) was reportedly investigating a deal signed under Barbara Byrd-Bennett during her tenure at the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) district long before she came to Chicago to run the city's public school system.

Sources

The following is from Jitu Brown, national director of the Journey for Justice Alliance and one of the Dyett Hunger Strikers.

As a CPS parent and long-time community organizer, I am appalled by the actions of Barbara Byrd-Bennett in stealing from Chicago's children to feather her already robust nest. What is more appalling however, is Mayor Rahm Emanuel's effort to isolate her actions as the corruption of an individual; and our acceptance of such nonsense. Corruption and discriminatory actions that disregard the voices of Black and Brown parents is central to the culture of the school privatization movement. While millions of dollars are pumped into selling the public on "school choice", nationwide corporate education interventions have failed to improve the academic outcomes in Black and Brown communities, while a laundry list of "reformers" have been caught violating the public trust.